April 3, 2008
Complete Weekly Notes in PDF Format 
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The USC Upstate baseball team will make the short trip across the state line to take on Gardner-Webb in a three-game Atlantic Sun Conference series this weekend, looking to stay near the top of the conference standings. Entering the series with a 16-14 overall record and a 9-6 conference mark, it's hard to find a hotter team right now than the boys from Spartanburg, who have won 11 of their last 15 and four in a row with the last three coming in comeback variety. There will be no live stats or video streaming available during the series.
Gardner-Webb, at 12-14 overall and 5-10 in the A-Sun, are also on a bit of a hot streak, having won three of its last four. The three wins all came against Belmont last weekend in A-Sun action, as the Bulldogs dominated the Bruins during the series, outscoring Belmont, 32-7. Upstate leads the all-time series, 14-12, with Gardner-Webb, although the team's haven't met since splitting a pair of games in 2000.
Reed's Deeds
With junior Phillip Morgan out for a week and a half with stitches on his left hand, redshirt freshman Reed Lishen is making the most out of his opportunity. In his first collegiate game, the Royal Palm Beach, Fla., native went 1-for-3 with a single through the left side. In his third, he notched a two-out, two-strike single through the right side to score two runs and lead the Spartans to a 5-4 win over High Point. He is hitting .333 (3-for-9) with three RBIs in three games.
The Comeback Kids
It may be making head coach Matt Fincher pull his hair out, but the USC Upstate baseball team has a penchant for coming-from-behind to win. In fact, the squad has done it three times in a row, with the team coming back after being down 3-1 to Jacksonville in the second game on Saturday to win 5-4, falling behind 6-5 in the eighth before coming back to beat North Carolina A&T, 16-6, on Tuesday and coming back to beat High Point, 5-4, on Wednesday after being down 4-3 entering the ninth.
The March For 250
Head coach Matt Fincher enters the weekend two shy of career win 250. Already the winningest coach in school history, entering the year with 232 wins in 10 years, Fincher has totally rebuilt the Upstate baseball program. From a club that won 13 games in his first year, Fincher has led the Spartans to six straight 20-win seasons and three straight 30-win seasons. Along the way, Fincher racked up 48 wins against teams ranked in Division II and two wins against teams at the top of the Division II poll. In the Spartans' last year of Division II play, Upstate won 10 games against ranked teams and rose as high as 18th in DII polls.
A Huge Inning
Upstate grouped together six hits, five walks and a hit batter for 11 runs in the eighth inning on Saturday against N.C. A&T to come-from-behind for a 16-6 win. After freshman Keith Bisgounis walked to lead off, Bowley hit a ball into the right-center field gap for an RBI double to tie the game at five. He scored on the next play, as junior Eric Guillen reached on a bunt single and the throw to first ended up in right field. From there, the rally continued with the first nine men of the inning reaching base. Junior Kyle Simpson was hit by a pitch and freshman A.J. Clark walked to load the bases. Senior Andrew Runion followed by smashing a ball down the left field line for two runs. Senior Casey Rivers was walked intentionally, allowing sophomore Jimmy Tanner to drive in Clark with a walk. A wild pitch brought in Runion before freshman Blake Green walked to reload the bases. After a strikeout, Bowley drove in his second run of the inning with a single through the left side, setting up Guillen, who cleared the bases with a triple that went under the diving center fielder's glove. Guillen scored on the next play as Simpson doubled to left center before the Aggies got the final two outs of the inning.
